


Seventy Four

by iroiroriro



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Curses, Fanart, Flashbacks, Happy Ending, Kissing, M/M, Princes & Princesses, Rough Kissing, Songfic, Touch-Starved, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22321816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iroiroriro/pseuds/iroiroriro
Summary: How long has he been waiting in his tower? Seventy three... days? Weeks? Months?... Years?Leon looks out the window again, waiting for someone to come by and save him.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 27
Kudos: 362





	1. Chapter 1

_Seventy three._

The number echoes in Leon's head as he stares outside the window of his lonesome tower. The skies overhead are grey and outcast, dull and unchanging for as long as he can remember.

Seventy three... days? Weeks? Months? 

...Years?

He doesn't know. He doesn't even remember, really. When you've been here for too long, everything tends to just pass in a blur.

He notices that the ticking of the hourglass has stopped and he looks over, reaching towards it to turn it again. An imprint of his hand is left when he lets go, his palm now coated with dust.

He blinks at it for a few seconds before letting his hand fall again with a sigh, eyes looking back out to the dreadfully foggy horizon.

_Seventy three._

He pulls a chair towards the window and sits, fixing the fur cape around his shoulders before crossing his arms on the window pane and resting his head on them. What time is it? Is it currently night or day?

He doesn't know. The sky looks the same either way after all.

He lets out a sigh as he closes his eyes. When did he last sleep? He doesn't remember... ... ... but there's nothing else to do so he shall do so. He hums as he starts to count sheep.

  
  
  
  


_Seventy one, seventy two, seventy three..._

  
  
  
  


Leon jolts awake when he hears a foreign sound, standing up abruptly as his eyes search for anything out of the normal.

The once sturdy magic-imbued gates slam down the barren soil, destroyed. He sees shining teal irises from in-between the small openings of a knight's helm, a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

From beyond the garden of thorns, the knight steps in the castle grounds, emanating pride and confidence that Leon has already seen numerous times from other heroes before.

_Seventy three._

"Despair no more for the strongest knight of the Kingdom of Hammerlocke, the great Raihan, has come to your rescue!" the knight announces proudly, grip on his shield tightening as he searches his surroundings, eyes roaming until it naturally gravitates to the tallest tower and his sight lands on Leon.

The knight freezes for a few seconds before moving the visor of his helm up, his face now in full view as his gleaming eyes train on the gorgeous man. His mouth falls open, speechless.

A slight flush colors the knight's... Raihan's face as he breaks into a wide grin. "I've come for you, prince! I've come to steal you from this wretched place and wipe your tears away until they are no more," he announces, hand stretching out as if reaching towards Leon from far away.

His eyes are so filled with hope- so filled with purity and conviction that Leon couldn't stop the sob that wracks his body, fat drops of tears spilling from his eyes and falling down the ground far below. Raihan looks struck, a newfound determination filling him as he grits his teeth and slides the visor of his helm back down.

The knight starts to cut down the giant thorns separating them, longing to get closer.

"Save me, please!" Leon wails, hand clutching his chest as he gives the other man a tearful smile.

It lights a fire from within Raihan and he shouts out an "I will!" As he unleashes a skill akin to a beam of light. Leon shuts his eyes and covers them as the holy attack shakes the ground, opening them again to reveal that the knight's path is now clear, the cursed thorns evaporating from the ground.

Leon's mouth hangs open as Raihan looks up again and grins. "That's a promise."

He's... strong. Stronger than anyone who has ever come here and claimed to be able to save him when they can't. Leon lets out a shaky breath as his heart pounds in his chest, clasping his hands together.

_Seventy three._ The number echoes in his mind.

Raihan reaches the castle entrance and enters, kicking the doors open.

Despite being in the tower, Leon can see everything due to the castle's incredibly decrepit state, eyeing the knight through the huge cracks on the floor.

The castle doesn't have a roof over it anymore due to the intensity of the battles that came there before. What's left almost fully intact is the tower Leon is in, untouched by the carnage that happens below save for the falling of its pieces due to old age.

Raihan notices him and waves.

Leon purses his lips and waves back with a small smile before jolting, the "Look out!" unable to leave his mouth as the castle's last gargoyle that's left undestroyed turns to the Raihan and attacks.

The knight staggers back, holding his now bleeding side as the gargoyle magically transforms into a dragon made of stone, its roar deafening as the castle shakes around them.

Leon yelps when part of the floor he was peeking from crumbles, crawling backwards as the bricks fall down meters and meters to the castle ruins below.

He wraps his cape tighter around him as he sniffs.

_Seventy three._

Raihan's bleeding out from his side, grunting as he stares the dragon down with his gleaming eyes. It's no use, he's already wounded. It's only a matter of time before he falls and fails, breaking his promise of saving him upon entering.

Just like the seventy three other heroes that tried this same feat before him.

_Seventy three-_ again, it echoes inside Leon's head.

He shudders as he weeps.

"Don't cry for this!" Raihan calls out to him and he looks back despite the stinging in his chest.

The knight grits his teeth and adjust his hold on his weapons before laughing at the dragon's face. "You call that a slash? This is a scratch! I've gotten worse from a garden rake!" He spits to the side and Leon's heart aches at the blood that came with it.

The dragon roars as it attacks, driving into the knight full-force. Leon covers his eyes to avoid seeing the blow that will surely bring Raihan's demise.

The stench of death doesn't come.

Leon peeks between his fingers to see the knight battling the dragon as if he were not wounded, swinging his sword with practiced ease and evading to the side when needed be. He can't use his shield due to being in the same side as his wound but he doesn't let it go.

Raihan finds a weak spot and focuses his attacks on it, footwork perfect as he dashes, evades and lunges in a certain pattern.

A few moments after Leon's eyes are able to catch up to his movements, the creature crumbles under a holy skill from Raihan's sword, aimed at the crack in its defenses.

The stone dragon turns back into a gargoyle as it breaks into pieces, the knight looking down at its remains proudly. Raihan looks around and easily deduces the route he would traverse to get to Leon's tower, nodding to himself as he walks forward.

"Raihan!!" Leon calls and the knight looks up at his desperate face.

He purses his lips before giving him a strained smile.

"Take care."

Raihan beams. "If it is to hear you call my name again, then I shall," the knight gives him a wink and Leon flushes, receiving a laugh as the knight runs.

Only a few have reached this point before, he can count them in one hand.

" _Seventy three_ ," he whispers to himself.

Leon watches Raihan with baited breath, battling the other monsters in the castle, evading traps and jumping over steep crevices that seemed impossible in such armor.

The more he gets closer, the harder Leon's heart pounds until soon, he's gotten farther than any of the past heroes had, the brick path he's taking immaculate compared to before when it's riddled with slashes, burn marks and skeletons.

He's almost here, Leon can barely hear the clanging of Raihan's armor as he starts to run up the spiral stairwell to where he is, uncaring of the weight of his armor as he dashes against gravity.

_Seventy three._

He's almost here, Leon can feel the vibrations of his heavy stomps against the sturdy brick steps of his tower. The stone doesn't even budge under his heavy weight. No human has ever walked the path before him.

_Seventy three._

Almost here. Leon distantly hears his grunting. Raihan deftly evades old traps placed there years ago, some working as if they're good as new while some failing due to rust and unuse.

_Seventy three._

_Seventy three._

He's almost here. Leon can feel him.

"Seventy-"

_Almost_.

A loud boom akin to thunder echoes throughout the tower and shakes its very foundations, the brick under and above Raihan giving in as he accidentally steps in a trap to avoid a different one.

Tears fall down Leon's cheeks as he sobs.

This is how it always ends. This is how it should always end. It's been so long and it's happened so many times already but he can't get used to it.

Leon holds his cape tight around him as he moves to walk back to the window.

A crumble resounds from the staircase.

Leon whips his head around with wide eyes.

_No_.

Another crumble.

_What-_

And another as Raihan digs his way out of the debris with a cough, pushing bricks and stones off of him. The knight huffs out a laugh as he grabs onto a sturdy looking part of the staircase and hefts himself back up.

_He made it._

Leon's stomach drops in primal fear.

_Impossible._

"No, this- this can't be," he steps back and shudders, heart pounding as his tight grasp on his cape threatens to rip the garment apart. 

Raihan's steps are slower, steady unlike his earlier running, but he hears it clear as day.

"My traps, the monsters I created, everything I did to keep anyone from reaching me," Leon's lower back hits the protrusion on the window pane and he has to reach out and grab it lest his quaking legs fail him.

He's almost here.

"He'll kill me," Leon hushes out.

"Once he realizes it, he'll slay me-" Leon frantically looks around as he wraps himself in his arms, alarmed when Raihan's steps start getting louder, the knight running upstairs again once he deduces that the trap he fell into is the last one there is.

_Seventy three._

"But I'm so- so close," he whispers to himself before his eyes land on his reflection on the broken mirror hanging from the old wardrobe in his room.

He's so close.

_Seventy three._

He can't die now. Not when he's gotten so far.

_Seventy three._

He lets his cape fall from his shoulders.

_Seventy three._

The pounding of Raihan's feet reaches the front of his door.

_Seventy three._

He spreads his wings and inhales.

_Seventy three._

Raihan pushes the door open with a slam.

_Seventy-_

**Fire engulfs everything**.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Seventy four_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The end._
> 
> OR IS IT??!?!?!?! **DUN-DUN-DUUNNNN**
> 
> There's a next chapter because there's no way I'd write a bad ending in anything ever.
> 
> Also, I got this plot from [Seventy Four by Itoki Hana (prod. Toby Fox) ](https://youtu.be/poKI_MY0Bkw) !! 
> 
> But I strayed to give Leon a different backstory from the princess in the song so I can give them an ending lol


	2. Chapter 2

  
  


_Seventy four._

Leon pants as the smell of burning wood engulfs the room.

Everything's burning, his bed, his books, his wardrobe, the letters Sonia gave him, the paintings he made throughout the years, the drawing of a sheep that his baby brother gifted him before everything went to hell-

"Seventy four," he reminds himself as he falls on his knees and crumples to the floor.

"S-seventy four," Leon repeats as he sobs.

Seventy four heroes dead.

_Twenty six more before it's done. Before he's back into being a human. Before he's set free._

"I'm sorry," he chokes out. "I'm so so sorry," Leon threads his hands in his hair and pulls, looking for a way to divert the pain- to stop the aching in his chest and the closing of his throat.

He killed him.

God, _**he**_ killed him.

All of the other ones died through different means, traps, monsters, poisoned thorns- thinking that they were dying with honor, thinking that they were doing so to save a helpless fairytale _"_ _prince"_ in distress.

All but Raihan.

"I'm sorry- Raihan, I'm so so sorry," Leon closes in on himself, orange wings wrapping around his own body as the raging fire engulfs them both.

Raihan saw him earlier upon his entrance, steps freezing as he watches Leon breathe out. Their eyes met, trapped on one another as the knight falls to his knees and gets engulfed in fire.

He couldn't even give him a hero's death. He died knowing the truth instead of being _blissfully_ unaware of Leon's treacherous machinations like the seventy three heroes that came before him.

Leon sobs freely, refusing to look at the burning flesh whose life he himself ended with his own accursed breath. "R-raihan- I- _Raihan_ -" he calls despite knowing he can no more hear him.

Despite knowing that he never will.

"Yes? Go on."

Leon stops.

Body still wracking with hiccups, he carefully looks back up to see... Raihan, standing up and casually pushing off part of the melted metal of his armor from his skin as if it's naught but lukewarm water, teal eyes trained on him with a gleam- almost as if they're emanating an inhuman glow.

_Oh_.

He's not human.

Leon should have known after that fight with the gargoyle. Should have realized it when he climbed out unscathed after falling five whole stories where a mere human would've had every bone in their fragile body broken.

The knight touches a sigil on his neck and it dissolves, the weight of the spell coating him bursting with a shock wave strong enough to blow away the fire that decimated everything in the room, sending parts of the walls flying along with Leon whose back none too gently hits the wall, the old stone dangerously cracking behind him.

His impact goes unnoticed as Leon roughly wipes his tears with his sleeve before looking up, watching Raihan stand up to his full height, the knight shaking his wings off of what's left of the melted holy metal, the chain mail and animal scales under it clinging to him and bending around the warping of his skin.

Raihan carefully steps closer and Leon strains his neck to look up as the knight approaches him, eyes wide as he tries to process what he is seeing. Hard scales protrude from the tall man's shoulders, rugged wings bigger than Leon's on his back and a dangerous looking spiky tail trailing behind him.

"...Raihan?" Leon asks, just to be sure, and the knight tilts his head to the side.

"It appears you're back to seventy three. If my understanding of the number you've kept uttering with those pretty lips is correct?" Raihan says as he crouches down in-front of Leon, carefully trailing a clawed draconic finger down his cheek. Leon's eyes lid at the foreign yet welcome feeling.

How long has it been since someone last touched him like this? Since when has someone last touched him _ever_? It's been ages- it feels as if no one has ever done it before.

Leon sighs as he closes his eyes, a gentle hand wiping a stray tear as it escapes him.

A soft touch from hardened hands cups his cheeks, moving to caress his neck before trailing down and tracing the skin where his wings meet between his shoulder blades.

Leon shudders as he falls forward and away from the odd sensation, gasping when Raihan catches him. He bites his lip as the knight's hands trail further down, pressing his palms against Leon's waist before he moves to clutch the base of his soft tail. The knight huffs out an amused snicker when Leon wags it to get his hand off.

Raihan gives his thighs a squeeze before ghosting down his knelt legs, stopping when he feels the sizzling heat of the chained cuffs binding around the other's ankles, reacting to his inhuman presence.

"I would not find it wrong should you desire to kill me," Leon forcefully lets out as he pushes Raihan a few inches away, his golden eyes looking up to gaze into teal ones. The taller man's pupils turn into thin slits as he narrows his eyes.

Raihan regards him quietly, tapping a silent beat on Leon's hip.

"Like you did the seventy three others who came before me?"

It shouldn't hurt. Leon himself knows of this- but hearing it from somebody else hits different from when he just tells it to himself.

_Seventy three._

The old number echoes back in his mind again, taunting him. Mocking him.

So many lives taken.

And for what? So he can be free of this curse? A hundred souls of heroes in exchange for the freedom of just one... one selfish fallen king?

_Seventy three._

Memories of a lady with flowing locks of black and blue, a short man with a bright smile and freckled cheeks, a man with graying hair, a strong girl with a black ribbon on her head- it all flows back.

It's as if each and every one of them just visited him yesterday. He can remember their every word, their every action, their every struggle as they immediately make their way to save him upon seeing him weep for their help, unknowing of the fate waiting for them.

He's seen all their deaths. He's the cause of it.

For what? Freedom?

There was a time when he was most determined to come back home. Skillfully laying traps and rehearsing lines in-front of the mirror, wishing to get back as soon as possible to resume running the kingdom he left in the hands of mere children. He watched the first few heroes fall with a heavy heart, a prideful king aching to go back to his throne under the guise of a lonesome, kidnapped prince.

Now that he thinks about it, how long has he been trapped here? Months? Years? Decades? He doesn't know anymore. Is the royal mage Magnolia still alive? Did his mother weep for him in agony or did she send troops in search of the witch who cursed his son in rage? Did Sonia finally become the renowned wizard she aspires to be? Did that child Victor ever got the strength to become a page?

Did his baby brother become king in his stead? He's so young, he couldn't have done so on his own.

Are they still alive?

_Is any of them still alive?_

_How long has he been stuck here in this timeless tower?_ _What is he still here for?_

_Why does he still try?_

"Hey, breathe."

Arms wrap around him in apology as he shakily sinks. Is this a curse or a blessing? This man's presence before him burns Leon to the core and pours molten heat in his veins.

"You're warm," he hushes out, digging his face- pale from the lack of oxygen- into the other man's neck. The scales do not hurt at all despite what they look like, although he does not know if it's because of what he currently is or if they're really just like that to the touch.

"Have you really come here to save me?" He dreads the answer despite asking it.

Raihan mulls as he licks his lips, eyeing Leon's jaw and knowing that the other feels his gaze boring through him.

The knight threads his hands into Leon's hair and works out the knots and tangles, straightening it out as he thinks of the right way to answer.

"I'm... afraid not. I've initially come here for someone else," he tightens his hold around Leon as if he's afraid the other will push him away. "A scribe under my guidance. He went on a quest around a year ago to prove himself worthy of being knighted but never returned. Everyone has given up on him but... I followed despite my queen's order not to."

"Sebastian."

Raihan lets out a defeated sigh as he leans his head against Leon's. "You know him. Then that must mean he's been here."

_And met his end._

"I remember him. I remember each and every one of them," Leon says with a self-depreciating laugh. "Sebastian was a valiant lad. He's the reason why there's only one gargoyle left and why there's a huge hole above the castle. Must've thought that if he's going down, he shall bring all of them down with him," Leon says before sighing, moving to push Raihan away. The knight lets go with a growl of dismay.

Leon eyes the knight with hurt.

"I understand. You must wish to slay me after... everything I've done. I humbly accept it," Leon say only to freeze when Raihan moves a hand to cup his face.

"I've heard of your tales countless times. You're a legend. How much of them is true?" Leon blinks at the taller man's question.

A prince high up in a tower waiting for someone to save him. Of course. In all the time he's been here, it's obvious that such tales of his mysterious plight where no hero has ever come back from would spread.

He's never left this place and no human or monster have escaped the castle grounds upon entering so he does not have a hand in spreading them. However, the more humans gossip, the more stories twist. With it comes the valiant heroes finding him and marching to his aid with colorful lives trailing their wake- unknowingly led to their premature deaths.

"Depends," is Leon's answer.

Raihan mulls over it before shrugging, giving the other a smile before leaning in.

_Wha-?!_

Leon deduces that he's never been shocked so many times in a single day before in his life, hands reaching up to hold onto Raihan's shoulders as the knight's lips invade his.

His balance fails him and he falls back with a gasp, the knight following him down and taking advantage of the opening as he cages the other's head between his arms. Raihan's forked tongue feels odd at first but it didn't matter either way as Leon melts under the heat of the knight's kiss, ravishing him entirely and leaving no place untouched.

His tail wraps around the knight's leg as he tries to give back but fails, his movements clumsy from unuse despite this not being his first. Raihan chuckles against him and Leon keens when the tongue goes deeper, a surge of a spell shooting through him.

Is this how he'll die? He's not complaining but this is strange- times really have changed quite a lot.

Leon pants heavily when they part, completely dazed and light headed as he catches his breath. Raihan wipes the side of the other's lip with his thumb before moving away.

The knight checks his ankles, the cuffs flickering in and out of existence but still staying in place. With a click of his tongue, he squeezes around it and watches as it brakes under his claws, Leon jolting back up at the searing pain thundering up his whole body from his leg.

" _Agh!!_ W-what...?"

Raihan moves to his other ankle and does the same thing albeit with a bit more difficulty. Leon screams as the binding breaks, a harsh jolt of indescribable agony piercing through him and making him fall back, writhing as the ground shakes under them while the tower dangerously groans.

"Hey, shh shh, I'm with you. I got you. I'm right here," the knight runs his hands up and down Leon's sides and soothes him as he weeps, caging him in rugged wings as he pants.

Leon doesn't know how long it's been but he must have passed out from the pain, his head now resting against Raihan's chest as the knight holds him, the taller man leaning against a broken part of the tower wall.

Raihan is sleeping, he belatedly realizes.

Leon looks up and watches the taller man's face as he breathes lightly, the strong light behind him casting him in a gorgeous glow.

The strong light behind him.

The... light behind him...

_... ... Light..?_

He quickly moves to get up on his feet only to gasp when he falls back down. Arms immediately reach out to catch him, a pain in his ankles preventing him from standing.

"Hey, where do you think are you going?"

Raihan asks but Leon doesn't even hear him, eyes gazing at the sunrise he hasn't seen for so long.

Great mountains stretch across the horizon and migratory birds fly overhead. The sunlight cascades between clouds of all shapes, lighting up the forests below, covered with a thin sheen of fog that veils it in wonder instead of dread.

There are... tall structures of unknown origin far away, past the mountains in a distance normal human eyes cannot see. Leon feels his mouth fall open as he squints at their abstract shapes.

He hears a sharp yip and looks down the garden, eyes widening as he watches a family of foxes digging around and playing in the once barren soil. A few blades of grass have already crossed the castle fences over the night, starting to reclaim the land after ages of curse.

The once towering thorns that surrounded the castle have turned into sand under the great sun's harsh rays. Leon purses his lips and can't help but worry while watching the kits play around in the ashy remains.

"Can you stand?" Leon whips his head towards Raihan whom he now notices is actually holding him up. He tries but hisses when he shifts his weight, causing the knight to take him in his arms again. "Don't worry, you're still half-dragon so you'll recover," Raihan assures him before looking down. "I... ah, I couldn't turn you back into a human. I'm afraid that part of the curse is outside of my capabilities," he says and stills when Leon cups his face.

"Raihan, I... I don't know what to say..." Leon starts and the knight smiles.

"Well, I gave you a promise, after all. How about _'thank you'_?" Raihan says cheekily and watches Leon's expression soften.

"... ...Thank you," Leon's voice breaks as he says it and the knight can't help but squeeze tighter around him. Leon lets out a breathless laugh as he coils his arms around Raihan's shoulders and hugs him back.

They stay like that for a while before the knight loosens his hold. Leon lets him with a sigh before yelping when the taller man moves to lift him up and toss him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Raihan laughs at Leon's ungodly screech.

"Wha- Raihan, put me down! I can fly!" He kicks his legs and struggles before stilling when he watches the other move towards the tower's staircase.

"No, I assure you that we both can't. I used too much power to lift your bindings and you're still recovering," Leon yelps when Raihan pats his bottom, giving the knight a loud slap on his back.

They were down a few stories when the information sinks in. "My bindings... how did you break them?" Leon asks as Raihan carefully walks down the stairs, mindful of the fallen rocks and cracked stone.

"I did tell you that you're a legend, right?" The knight laughs as he shakes his head. Leon doesn't understand how that correlates but he stops asking anyway.

Raihan whistles once they pass the threshold of the castle grounds, a loud thumping heard as a huge bird _(?)_ approaches them. Leon freezes in panic before relaxing when he sees that the creature is saddled.

"What are you?" Leon asks in wonder as he reaches to pet the bird's beak, not noticing Raihan freeze when the creature allows him to.

"That's... Flygon, my mount. He normally doesn't let people pet him but I guess he likes you," the knight huffs as he settles Leon on the saddle, moving the bags and other knick-knacks around so Leon's ankles won't get hit.

"Can Flygon fly?" Leon laughs as he musses the feathers on Flygon's head, causing the creature to indignantly sqawk at him.

"It depends on the weather," Raihan shuffles the inside of one bag and takes out a rectangular item of unknown material and what seems to be black glass. He presses something and it lights up, Leon gasping as he leans to look over.

Flygon exhasperatedly huffs as he fixes his balance so that Leon won't fall. Raihan notices him and gives him a small smile as he reaches up to pat his head.

"Is that magic?" He asks and perks up when it sings. Like a bell. The knight looks down at it and starts tapping on the glowing glass with his thumbs in a surprising speed. The glass has colorful pictures and writings on it that move when Raihan touches them.

"It depends," Raihan answers again, pressing on something as the magic disappears and it returns back to being plain black glass. "Is there somewhere you'd like to go to?" The knight looks up at him with a gentle smile and Leon feels his heart swell several sizes.

"Home."

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done!! 
> 
> This fic was just supposed to be a quick idea thing but I got too engrossed writing it to the point that I drew a fanart for it despite having a deadline near because I have absolutely lost control of my life
> 
> I'm thinking of writing a very short epilogue for it though? Do tell me if that's something you'd like! Thank you for reading!


End file.
